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Jennalee Hughes
About My Immediate Family My name is Jennalee Hughes. I was born on August 20, 1991, at Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. I was born to my parents, Charlton Ross Hughes and Julie Graf Hughes. Though I obviously have a mother and a father, my immediate family consists of my mother and sister. My parents divorced when I was in the 5th grade, and my father has not been very active in my life since the divorce. My mother has done a wonderful job playing both the mother and the father role, while balancing work and taking care of her two children. I have a special needs sister, Rachel, who is very active in the Special Olympics. My sister is 26 years old, and lives at home with my mother and me. My mother has been a Special Olympics Coach for many years, and I also have been a Special Olympics volunteer and unified partner for several years. Special Olympics is an important part of our lives. I am getting married in June, so a new member of my immediate family is my husband-to-be, Theodore George Hunter III. Though my immediate family is very small, I wouldn't trade them for the entire world. I love my small, tight-knit family, and I could never imagine my family being any different. Church is an extremely important part of our lives, and we attend church each Sunday and Wednesday. We attend Oakcrest Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, however, I grew up at Central Church of Christ in Moore, Oklahoma. God is an important part of our lives, and my family strives to put Him first in everything we do. The Hughes Family Not one person on the Hughes side of my family knows where the name Hughes came from. From speaking with family members on this side of my family, most of them do not know a lot about the Hughes Family history. My grandfather, Moody Hughes, knew a lot about the history of Hughes'. Unfortunately, he died about three years ago. 2.jpg|Summer 2008—My family with my great grandmother before she passed away. 3.jpg|Summer 2008—My Dad and Sister with my great grandmother before she passed away. 6.jpg|Spring 2008—My cousins, aunt, uncle, and mom at my sister's graduation party. My blood grandmother, Jean, was born during the Great Depression. She was given up for adoption when she was just a baby, and there is no record of her birth. We do not know where her family descended from, because all records of her birth were lost during the Great Depression. My Grandmother Jean, died when my Dad was only 6 years, so I was never able to meet her. Together they had my father, Ross Hughes and my aunt, Lisa Hughes. My Grandfather, Moody, remarried another woman two years after Jean died, who I know as my Grandmother, Diane Hughes. Together, they had two sons, Byron and Randy, and one daughter, Lara. I do not spend a lot of time with my Dad's side of the family, which is why there are only a few photos of us...and these photos are pretty old. My family is the typical Oklahoman family. Many of the Hughes’ reside in Tuttle, Oklahoma, and they attend Tuttle Church of Christ. My family holds God first and family second. The typical holiday with my family is spent visiting with family, along with shooting guns in the field. My aunt and uncle live on a huge property out in Tuttle, and we usually spend a few hours of our time shooting guns outside. It’s just something we do, and have always done. The Graf Family 387799_2371293568797_732541023_n.jpg|My grandparent's wedding in 1948 384134_2371282928531_2098373064_n.jpg|My grandparent's wedding in 1948. 408153_2371279768452_1652605521_n.jpg|My grandmother, Dorothy Graf, at 17 years old! What a knock-out! The Graf family name is traced back to Germany. The Grafs were originally "Graff-Van-Loten." However, when they came to the United States, they dropped the "Van-Loten," as well as one f from Graff to form the last name Graf. Though my family came to America from Germany, they were not Nazis. I constantly have to answer that question when I tell people my family came from Germany. My Grandmother and Grandfather, Dorothy and Robert Graf, met in 1947. At the time they met, my grandfather was dating another woman, whose name was also Dorothy. She had red hair like my grandmother...my grandfather definitely has a "type." He originally proposed to the Dorothy he was dating before my grandmother. They were engaged for a few months, but then she broke it off because he was going to war. After the first Dorothy broke off the engagement, he decided to ask my grandmother on a date. After their first date he proposed to my grandmother. My grandmother said to him, "Are you crazy? And that better not be the ring you proposed to Dorothy with." My grandmother told him no the first time he asked her, but they continued dating. Eventually, after dating for a few months, he asked again and they got engaged. They married on May 21, 1948. Together they had four kids, Robert Jr., James, Thomas, and Julia (my mother). They have lived in many different states, but for the past 36 years they have lived in Overland Park, Kansas. My grandfather, Robert Graf, fought in World War II. He was a machine gunman on the front line. Though I have spent a lot of time with him and my grandmother throughout the years, I cannot recall even one time hearing him talk about the war. He does not like to talk about the war because of the violence he had to partake in. During World War II, he was shot in the shoulder, so he received the Purple Heart Medal. That medal hangs with a few other of his medals in the hallway of my grandparent's home. My family loves sports, and any time we all get together, there is some sort of sporting even blaring on the tv. We are also EXTREMELY loud when we get together. In fact, we are so loud, when my husband-to-be spent his first Christmas with us, he was mind blown. His family is not as loud as my family, so it was and will be an adjustment for him in the coming years. My family is also very conservative. We strive to put God first in every aspect of our lives. My grandparents are extremely active in church, and they attend each Sunday and Wednesday. Though they are both in their 80's, they're still very involved in the community. They serve food at some of the local homeless shelters a few times a month. Giving back to the community is important to my family. Interactions with Persons from Diverse Backgrounds My grandparents are typically pretty accepting of people of different cultures. However, since they are from a different time, a time where people were quite judgmental of people of color. There have been several instances when I have heard them refer to black people as "hoodlums" or "rappers." I try to explain to my grandparents that not all black people are hoodlums, and that not all black people are rappers. Associating black people with these stereotypes would be comparable to saying all white males wearing nice suits are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies...and that's just not the case. My Mom has also had several negative experiences with people of color...most of these negative experiences occurring while she was in college. Some of these experiences have made her feel a high level of discomfort around people of different backgrounds. I will share one of her stories. When my Mom was in college, she lived in a small house close to campus with a few of her girlfriends. One afternoon they were hosting a wedding shower. During the middle of the shower, there was a knock at the door. One of my mom's roommates opened the door, and there was a Hispanic man standing there. He was asking my mom's roommate about a vacant house next door. She answered all of his questions until finally he pushed her and made his way through the door. That was when 2 other Hispanic men appeared and came into the house as well. The men made all of the women lay face down on the ground so they would not be able to identify their faces. They stole all of the jewelry and valuables, as well as the bride-to-be's engagement ring. While rummaging through all of their things, they spoke in Spanish to one another. However, while they were speaking in Spanish, they said a few words in English to scare the women, like rape, hostage, and kidnap. For my mom, this experience has made her associate a negative stereotype toward Hispanic men, but especially toward younger Hispanic men. These men were brothers aged from 16 - 23. When she sees young Hispanic men in certain public settings, she becomes uneasy. I understand that this memory is a really bad memory for my mom, and I understand her uneasiness at times. However, if the men who burglarized her home in college were white males, would she be uneasy every time she saw young white males? Probably not. Negative stereotypes are associated with people of color in the media, so this might also be why she feels the way she does about young Hispanic males. She does realize that not ALL young Hispanic males are going to burglarize her home, but there are certain situations where she has flashbacks of this HORRIBLE college memory. This negative experience does not shape my mom as a person, but it is contantly in the back of her mind. My Personal Reflections Though my family is not an extremely diverse family, I have learned a lot through my own personal experiences, as well as through some of my family's experiences. There were some obstacles when trying to obtain some information about my family, especially on my dad's side of the family since my birth grandmother was adopted during the Great Depression. Through learning my family history, I have gained a lot of insight into my family's past, that I hope to pass along to my kids one day. Family is extremely important, and always will be. My family's history and experiences have helped to shape who I am, and through some of their experiences I have learned more about my family's values. Overall, I feel my family is very non-judgmental of other races and cultures, and they shape their views off of their own experiences. However, I do know my grandparents are from a different time, so it is quite possible they do have pre-conceived stereotypes of certain types of people and cultures. I do recognize a degree of racism with my grandparents to a certain extent. But, as mentioned earlier, I have learned from my family's experiences, and I can shape my opinions in the way I choose, and I choose to be accepting and non-judgmental with people of different color and cultures. Category:Students